Atlus explains why they’re using Unreal Engine 4 for Shin Megmi Tensei V

[Nirolak]

I remember a lot of people wondering why Atlus wasn't just using the Persona 5 engine when the graphics looked fine with it.

The answer is that UE4 is way easier to make games with.

There's also a bunch of vague game details at the link.

This is the first time Atlus is using Unreal Engine 4. The game development environment has changed dramatically, and you can check what you made immediately on the game screen, allowing us to cut down on a lot of time working over ideas and trial-and-error. I'm really grateful to have been introduced to it.

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Source: http://gematsu.com/2017/10/shin-megami-tensei-v-will-game-sympathizes-times

 

[Deleted member 249]

It's interesting seeing how much the Japanese developers have taken to Unreal Engine 4 this generation, and I am glad to see it help their console development a bit.
Btw, glad you are here, Nirolak :)

 

[TreIII]

Hey, if it at all helps reduce the dev time at all (yeah...), then by all means, that's a good thing, too.

 

[AcademicSaucer]

Man, I wonder how their dev tools look like

 

[Viale]

If it means we can get SMT 5 out in a better time frame than P5, I'm all for it.

 

[Aeana]

The same revelation a lot of other JP devs have had when working with UE4.

 

[StrikeFirst117]

I mean if it reduces development time which then also results in a lower total production cost it is no surprise that they are using it.
UE4 is such a versatile engine and is being used by so many Japanese studios already.

 

[KZXcellent]

Good to see Japanese Devs moving over to UE4. Seems to be doing wonders for them.

Also it's great to see you made it over here Nirolak!

 

[Mivey]

That Japanese office really worked out for Epic, it seems. Though UE3 also got quite a use from japanese devs,no?

 

[Stormbrewer]

While it seems to be exclusive for now, I wonder if being on UE4 will help portability of SMTV if they end up deciding to release on PS4 and PC (lol) at some point.

At any rate, hopefully the savings in dev time means we'll get this in 2019 instead of 2020.

 

[Mattakuevan]

If its faster/easier for them then by all means.

No point holding onto clunky engines.

 

[Chief Malik]

All that time invested into persona 5 engine and it didn't even turn out to be all that good. I bet that fantasy thing is UE4 as well. The engine is likely why P5 took so long. P6 on UE4 seems like a given.

 

[V_Ben]

Given how long Persona 5 took to make, this seems like a welcome change.

 

[Ultraviolence]

UE4 seems to have seriously helped Japan bounce back from the development troubles from last gen.

 

[Fireblend]

Really fascinating to hear that some of the QoL features of these big engines are some sort of revelation for some big JP developers. Glad that they finally caught on! Though I hope this won't mean a decrease in quality due to not knowing the tools in and out like (presumably) whatever they used previously.

 

[wrowa]

This might be the least surprising revelation in the history of the SMT series.

Atlus is no stranger to 3rd party engines though, are they? Catherine was build on Gamebryo, the engine Bethesda used for Oblivion (and on which their RPG engine is still based on), I believe. UE4 should be a much better choice than that was back in the day, in any case.

 

[FormatCompatible]

Please don't screw this up Atlus, always scare me when developers talk about how they want to use current events to shape their storyline, specially after Apocalypse tropey story (thankfully Yamai is directing this one).

 

[Lucentto]

Continuing to confirm that UE4 saved Japanese development.

Also happy to see Nirolak made it over.

 

[Seda]

Yeah UE4 seems to have been pretty neatly accepted by JP devs.

And seeing a Nirolak thread here feels comforting somehow.

 

[Fou-Lu]

I've been looking into using UE4 myself and it is quite impressive. Glad to see more Japanese devs making the move.

 

[Vic_Viper]

Switching to UE4 is great news, seems like more and more Japanese devs are starting to finally. Hope this will help them cut down on the delays we got with with P5.

 

[Kuro]

You can make 2d stuff in UE4 right or should I stick to gamemaker?

 

[JawesomeJaw]

I mean the dream is that with an easy engine and a HD demon models that we get the variety of spin offs and different styles of the PS2 MegaTen games.

Basically anything for a new Devil Summoner.

 

[RampagingSoul]

Yeah, I figured as much when they showed SMTV was using UE in the reveal trailer back at the Switch Presentation, but good to have confirmation.

 

[Trago]

If this means that they'll get the game out quicker, then fine. They're up to speed like the rest of Japan.

 

[Nali]

What a reversal from last gen. The major Japanese publishers are all about UE while the major Western publishers have largely moved to their own custom codebases.

 

[Mattakuevan]

You can make 2d stuff in UE4 right or should I stick to gamemaker?

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Gamemaker Studio does a lot of basic 2D stuff with a lot more ease than UE4. I'd personally stick with it unless I was making something that needed specific functionality from UE

 

[Mpl90]

Unreal Engine 4 is really helping Japanese developers. No wonder Nintendo is working so strictly with Epic to make things as easy as possible for developers.

 

[Jaded Alyx]

It's interesting seeing how much the Japanese developers have taken to Unreal Engine 4 this generation, and I am glad to see it help their console development a bit.
Btw, glad you are here, Nirolak :)

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I think lack of proper documentation (i.e. in Japanese) was cited as a reason why previous iterations weren't so widespread there.

 

[Kuro]

Gamemaker Studio does a lot of basic 2D stuff with a lot more ease than UE4. I'd personally stick with it unless I was making something that needed specific functionality from UE

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Yeah I figured. Maybe I should learn how to model 3d stuff.

 

[TreIII]

I think lack of proper documentation (i.e. in Japanese) was cited as a reason why previous iterations weren't so widespread there.

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Yep. Plus it was also a thing that once you went through the trouble of investing in your own engine, you wanted to get the most out of it. And at least in cases like Capcom's MT, it actually worked, for the most part.

Couldn't be more a different stage, now, though.

 

[GhostTrick]

I think lack of proper documentation (i.e. in Japanese) was cited as a reason why previous iterations weren't so widespread there.

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ding ding ding.
Exactly why Western devs also had an advantage last gen compared to Japanese devs. Japanese documentation was lackluster from.what Íve read.

 

[UltraGunner]

Man all those delays for Persona 5 really sting now that they won't be using the engine.

 

[Giever]

I feel like all of these Japanese developers moving over to modern engines and tools is going to lead to some kind of renaissance.

 

[modewarp]

The same revelation a lot of other JP devs have had when working with UE4.

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They must have had a revelatory documentation upgrade or something since last time around or something to get all these companies to buy in. I hear even sunrise is using it for anime now over other tools.

 

[Cryptosporidium]

I wonder if theres trouble getting the P5 engine to work on switch, u4 works great doesnt it on switch?

 

[Chief Malik]

Cacpcom, please bring deep down back in UE4

 

[EDarkness]

I remember a lot of people wondering why Atlus wasn't just using the Persona 5 engine when the graphics looked fine with it.

The answer is that UE4 is way easier to make games with.

There's also a bunch of vague game details at the link.


Source: http://gematsu.com/2017/10/shin-megami-tensei-v-will-game-sympathizes-times

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I can understand that headache. Having to do a massive compile every time you want to see a change sucks. That's one of the great things about Unity. Doesn't take long to see the game doing it's thing and that makes it a lot easier to see and make changes.

 

[BADMAN]

Seems like the end of built from the ground up era for engines. Makes sense. There's a lot of good options out there.

 

[Chief Malik]

They must have had a revelatory documentation upgrade or something since last time around or something to get all these companies to buy in. I hear even sunrise is using it for anime now over other tools.

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Epic actually opened offices down there finally. That's why it's taken off the way it has.

 

[Reki]

I think lack of proper documentation (i.e. in Japanese) was cited as a reason why previous iterations weren't so widespread there.

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Now that's interesting, so it's really telling how japanese devs have embraced UE4. Not so long ago I was hoping that Bamco moved Tales to the engine; I'm almost sure they'll do that.

 

[PKthndr]

I hope this means we (or at least Japan) get to see this game released in late 2018. Playing this game on my Switch and "Demon fusing in bed" is gonna be rad.

 

[Aeana]

They must have had a revelatory documentation upgrade or something since last time around or something to get all these companies to buy in. I hear even sunrise is using it for anime now over other tools.

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Yeah, it's called documentation in a language they understand. :)

 

[modewarp]

Yeah, it's called documentation in a language they understand. :)

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I guess you could consider going from zero to one revelatory. I thought they had it for 3 but it was just spotty.

 

[Fularu]

I hope it will mean faster dev cycles, cheaper costs and, in the end, more games and leaving the 3DS behind (even if I have all of their games on preorder already, it's time to move on in 2018-2019)

 

[PSqueak]

I like how "cutting down time" sounds.

I mean, remember "Persona 5 Coming Winter 2014"?

 

[Namaste]

I hope devs start using UE4 it seem like a great set of tools and underused this gen.

 

[skillzilla81]

Will this be used for their fantasy rpg, I wonder.

 

[EDarkness]

I guess you could consider going from zero to one revelatory. I thought they had it for 3 but it was just spotty.

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This was my understanding as well. UE3 had some Japanese documentation, but it was serviceable at best. UE4 is supposedly well documented in Japanese and that makes all the difference.

 

[Sir_Bumble_Bee]

I hope devs start using UE4 it seem like a great set of tools and underused this gen.

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I disagree, I feel like I hear more about UE4 this generation than UE3 last generation.